The invention relates to an apparatus for joining a first running-off sheet of material to the front end of a second sheet of material to be connected, each sheet of material having assigned to it a transversely movable, especially pivotable sheet-holder, of which the first sheet-holder fixing the running-off first sheet of material can be advanced to the second sheet-holder fixing a front end of the second sheet of material to be connected, the first running-off sheet of material thereby being severed.
In an apparatus of this type which is known in practice, the sheet-holders for the first and second sheets of material are of plate-shaped design and are arranged approximately in the form of a V relative to one another in the initial positions. The running-off sheet of material is conveyed through a gap between the pivot bearings of the pivotable sheet-holders. The surfaces of the latter which face one another serve for the temporary fixing of the associated sheet of material or of a front end of the latter. In this known apparatus, when the first sheet of material drawn off from a reel has run off, the sheet-holder is pivoted in the direction of the opposite sheet-holder in response to an appropriate signal. During this movement, the sheet of material running off further is severed when a severing knife located on the sheet-holder, taking up the running-off sheet, is moved past a fixed counter-knife arranged between the sheet-holders and the running-off sheet is thereby severed. The rear end of the running-off sheet of material, this rear end resting against the sheet-holder which continues to pivot, is pressed against the side of the opposite second sheet-holder facing it or against the front end, fixed there, of the sheet to be connected. The sheet ends are joined together by means of an adhesive tape or the like, and at the same time the second sheet of material to be connected is set in forward motion and now runs off.
In the known apparatus, the sheet-holders are actuated by hand. Certain operational and control problems arise because of this.